Portside

The Bangladesh Accord negotIated by global labor and lnternational human rights groups after the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 contains important protections for workers. Nonetheless, its effectiveness is limited by the weakness of unions on the ground in Bangladesh and by the pro-corporate global regulatory framework.

Framing free speech and political correctness as opposing forces is a false dichotomy intended to derail uncomfortable but necessary conversations, a smokescreen ginned up by the ethically lazy. The fact is, political correctness doesn’t hinder free speech – it expands it. But for marginalised groups, rather than the status quo.

For the first time, Chavistas may not feel like the proud, governing majority in the country. On the other hand, an opposition with power is more the reason for strengthening organization. Having lost the luxury of taking victories for granted, the grassroots will need to become even more serious.

Amidst ongoing and widespread protests calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel's resignation, Illinois State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-8) has filed legislation, House Bill 4356, which would provide a mechanism for recalling the Mayor of Chicago.

After 34 years inside, sometimes you never feel free.

This ethnographic study of America's gun culture focuses on Detroit and Flint, Michigan, and it both confirms and challenges aspects of received wisdom about our country and our firearms.

Portside aims to provide varied material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world, and to change it. Every day, we try finding and sharing the most interesting and useful material we can, aimed at helping remaking the world into a fairer and more peaceful place. Once a year we appeal to readers to contribute to sustain the infrastructure that makes Portside possible. It may be the biggest return on investment you'll ever get.

Downward mobility plus racial resentment is a potent combination with disastrous consequences. We know now that election 2016 is increasingly an open portal into an age-old American dark side of slavery, repression, internment, and know-nothing-ism that couldn't be grimmer. And behind it all, running like an interstate highway through our history, is a powerful sense of white skin privilege that has traditionally extended even to those who were relatively powerless.

The movie is also a Hollywood rarity - a boxing movie with a black hero. It is bizarre, though hardly surprising, that a sport dominated for decades by African-American and Latino athletes looks more like ice hockey on screen. And Creed, embeds its drama in the perils and pleasures of black life in America. Adonis is a complex character with a complex fate. He is at once a rich kid and a street kid, the proud carrier of an illustrious heritage and an invisible man.

Once a year, Portside asks our readers for support. And every year, our readers come through. Thank you, thank you! Our role as moderators is bringing you material that is relevant, lively and useful, as we work together for a better country and world. If you have already contributed, many thanks! If you haven't... please do. While our expenses are relatively modest, they are very real. Here's why we are asking for your support.